Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) Shares Purchased by Value Partners Investments Inc.

Value Partners Investments Inc. grew its stake in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 86.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,734 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 1,269 shares during the quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $561,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC now owns 47,757 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $9,790,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Arlington Partners LLC lifted its stake in Danaher by 38.4% during the first quarter. Arlington Partners LLC now owns 19,214 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $3,939,000 after purchasing an additional 5,334 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Danaher by 356.0% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 611 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $125,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Danaher by 5.8% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,540,818 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $520,867,000 after purchasing an additional 139,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aurora Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Danaher during the first quarter worth approximately $2,567,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of Danaher stock traded down $3.26 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $198.20. 5,619,393 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,505,541. Danaher Corporation has a 1 year low of $171.00 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business has a 50-day moving average of $194.84 and a 200-day moving average of $208.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.77.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.80% and a net margin of 15.81%. As a group, analysts expect that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.85%.

Insider Activity

In other Danaher news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total value of $245,925,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 3,105,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. This trade represents a 28.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $3,129,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,005,442. The trade was a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 11.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Danaher from $240.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group decreased their target price on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. HSBC decreased their target price on Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wolfe Research decreased their target price on Danaher from $275.00 to $220.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $248.61.

About Danaher

Danaher Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets professional, medical, industrial, and commercial products and services worldwide. The Biotechnology segments offers bioprocess technologies, consumables, and services that advance, accelerate, and integrate the development and manufacture of therapeutics; cell line and cell culture media development services; cell culture media, process liquids and buffers for manufacturing, chromatography resins, filtration technologies, aseptic fill finish; single-use hardware and consumables and services, such as the design and installation of full manufacturing suites; lab filtration, separation, and purification; lab-scale protein purification and analytical tools; reagents, membranes, and services; and healthcare filtration solutions.